Feasibility of a Virtual Smoking Cessation Program

Smoking is the most preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada. In this pilot study our aim is to determine whether a virtual perioperative program, using automated emails, for smoking cessation is feasible and acceptable for increasing abstinence from smoking, compared to the usual care in patients undergoing surgery or with an acute traumatic fracture. Patients that present to the preoperative clinic or fracture clinic will be recruited for this trial. This feasibility study will be followed by the proposed randomized control trial to identify whether our planned study procedures are acceptable to surgical patients. Both components of the virtual smoking cessation program (Smoking cessation e-learning modules and Virtual Program Evaluation) will be more personalized to the patient as the patient's nicotine dependence will determine the tailored information that will be provided in the e-learning module and the email messages. Study procedures and components of the virtual smoking cessation program will be modified for clinical use and future research based on the feedback from this pilot study.